Story by: Mason Dunn ~ mason@RACE22.com

Durham, NC(February 3, 2010) -- One year after finishing runner-up in points to Wayne Ramsey at the historic South Boston Speedway, Justin Johnson laid claim to a Late Model Stock championship of his own in 2009.

After the initial start of the season was delayed a week by rain, Johnson was able to get a good steady start to his season going finishing fifth in the first Late Model event of the season behind strong drivers Philip Morris, CE Falk, Dustin Storm and Nick Smith.

In the first night of twin races for the Late Models on April 4, Johnson was able to take home his first win of the season in race number one but was unable to back up the success finishing eleventh in the second race. Johnson then went on a string of consistent top ten finishes over the next five races racing to two runner-ups as well as fifth, seventh and ninth place finishes.

Bad luck snagged Johnson starting on May 30 when engine problems would relegate him to a thirteenth place finish followed by a broken wheel hub in the first race of the twins on June 13 forcing him to a seventeenth place finish before rebounding in race number two with a third place finish. Fortunately for Johnson both those early exits took place in lower car count fields which enabled Johnson to loose less points due to SoBo's points system being based on car count much like NASCAR's.

The 150 lap feature on June 20 saw Johnson and Deac McCaskill deadlocked for the division points lead going into the race but McCaskill would leave with the slight edge after finishing fourth while Johnson finished fifth. The Bailey's 200 was Johnson's best chance to gain major points as there was a guaranteed 36 car field meaning 77 points for the winner. Unfortunately a mishap on track with Jonathan Cash would relegate Johnson to a 15th place finish while then points leader McCaskill would finish fifth.

Johnson would return to his normal consistency over the following two race weekends earning a runner-up finish as well as two fourth place finishes. Fortunately for Johnson when he encountered a bad weekend on August 1 resulting in a 16th place finish so did McCaskill who finished 18th thus keeping Johnson's title hopes alive going into the final four races of the points season.

Johnson would start his surge towards the title on the twin races scheduled for August 15 racing to two solid top five finishes (fifth and third) while McCaskill would only earn one top ten (eighth and 11th). But the night would also bring a third challenger for the title as David Quackenbush would ride the wave from his first win into the points lead with two races remaining.

Johnson would keep his title hopes alive on August 29 with a runner-up finish to Bruce Anderson (the 11th different winner of the season) finishing just ahead of title foes Nick Smith and Deac McCaskill while points leader Quackenbush finished seventh. This set the three-car battle for the title going into the final points race of the season with Quackenbush leading by four points over Smith while Johnson sat in third eight points out of the top spot.

Going into the final race Johnson knew what he had to do to win the title, win the race and pray for a little help beating Quackenbush and Smith. If Quackenbush finished at least second, the title was his no matter what Johnson did. Luckily for Johnson that wasn't the case. Johnson went on after taking the lead over on lap 96 to win the final points event of South Boston's season and with Smith
 

encountering trouble en route to a 13th place finish and Quackenbush finishing sixth in the final rundown, Johnson was able to claim his first division championship by a mere seven points over Quackenbush in one of the closest points battles of the year.

2009 South Boston Speedway Season Stats
22 Starts
2 Wins
14 Top-fives
16 Top-tens

Date Finish #of cars
March 21 5th 24
April 4 1st 21
April 4(2) 11th 21
April 11 2nd 24
April 25 7th 23
May 9 2nd 22
May 9(2) 5th 22
May 23 9th 20
May 30 13th 13
June 13 17th 18
June 13(2) 3rd 18
June 20 5th 17
July 3 15th 33
July 18 4th 22
July 18(2) 2nd 22
July 25 4th 18
August 1 16th 23
August 15 5th 23
August 15(2) 3rd 23
August 29 2nd 21
September 5 1st 21

Final Top 10 in Points
1) #44 Justin Johnson 648
2) #91 David Quackenbush 641
3) #88 Nick Smith 623
4) #08 Deac McCaskill 616
5) #57 Eddie Johnson 562
6) #8 Josh Oakley 482
7) #77 Michael Hardin 430
8) #3 Lee Pulliam 415
9) #90 Jonathan Cash 323
10) #22 Laura Hayes 316